Rupa Cornell

Vice President, Head Counsel, Vaccines at Takeda pharmaceuticals

Speaker

Rupa Cornell is Vice President and Head Counsel for the Vaccine Business Unit (VBU) at Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company, a global biotechnology company. Rupa helped VBU launch and commercialize Takeda’s first global vaccine to prevent dengue after 10 years in development, and with over 20,000 participants in 8 countries; the vaccine is now approved in 40 countries with $200M revenue to date.

In the 6 years prior to joining Takeda, Rupa held legal positions with increasing responsibilities at various biotech companies, including Stealth BioTherapeutics (rare mitochondrial diseases), Stallergenes Greer (allergy), Sage Therapeutics (CNS disorders) and Biogen (MS and Hemophilia). For 8 years before joining Biogen, Rupa held multiple roles in the legal department of Boston Scientific Corporation, a worldwide developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical devices.

Rupa has been practicing law for over 25 years. Prior to going in-house, she worked as a corporate attorney for Choate, Hall & Stewart in Boston, Squire, Sanders & Dempsey in London and Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco. Rupa served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Judge John T. Nixon in the Federal District Court of Middle Tennessee. Rupa graduated from Cornell Law School, cum laude, in 1998 and from Vanderbilt University, summa cum laude, in 1995.

Rupa serves on the Board of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, a public economic development organization with a 30-year track record of fostering innovation in Massachusetts. Rupa also sits on the board of Next Generation Investment, a non-profit seeking to improve educational opportunities in Tanzania.